Never Say Never

Finding a Life That Fits

Ricki Lake

• Publisher: Atria Books
• Year: 2012
• Topic: Social Sciences
• eBook ISBN:
  9781451627190
• Subtopic: Social Science Biographies
• Index: Social Sciences

From the beloved teen star, talk-show host, and media personality Ricki Lake, an uplifting and revelatory memoir about learning to reinvent yourself at any age.

Ricki Lake’s life has been a series of rebirths—from fat to skinny, married to divorced, rich to poor, and more. With her signature candid and humorous voice, Ricki shows us how her unique life in the spotlight offers wisdom to anyone who has ever struggled in her own skin.

She takes us behind the scenes of her troubled childhood—filled with food issues, abuse, and an unabashed yearning for a better life outside her suburban home. She pulls back the curtain on her talk show and her early days as a “fat actress,” and she shows how she reinvented herself as an author, filmmaker, and much beloved finalist on Dancing with the Stars. Ricki weathered near bankruptcy and an extremely difficult divorce, but, as she writes, life always hands you the unexpected—so you should never say never. By trusting her gut and following her heart, Ricki Lake turned an unconventional life into a “triumphant journey” (Kirkus Reviews), and this memoir stands as a hopeful, hilarious, and honest exploration of how any woman can do the same.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Description
• Author Bio
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Foreword
• I’ll never be happy unless I come in first.
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: I’ll never be anything special.
• Chapter 2: I’ll never let anybody find out how much I weigh.
• Chapter 3: Nothing bad will ever happen to me.
• Chapter 4: “You’ll never get anywhere if you don’t lose weight.”
• Chapter 5: No one will ever believe in me.
• Chapter 6: I’ll never stand out among the talented kids.
• Chapter 7: I’ll never get discovered, stuck out in the middle of nowhere.
• Chapter 8: I’ll never be a sex object.
• Chapter 9: I’ll never “go Hollywood.”
• Chapter 10: I’ll never make it to the Oscars.
• Chapter 11: I’ll never feel at home anywhere.
• Chapter 12: I’ll never lose my own home.
• Chapter 13: I’ll never get thin.
• Chapter 14: A gay man could never really hurt me.
• Chapter 15: I’ll never be given my own talk show.
• Chapter 16: An audience could never buy me as Brendan Fraser’s love interest.
• Chapter 17: I would never expect a baby to save my marriage.
• Chapter 18: I’ll never be able to accept my body in its natural state.
• Chapter 19: I’ll never feel my Grandma Sylvia’s presence again.
• Chapter 20: My husband and I will never stop loving each other.
• Chapter 21: My husband could never become someone I don’t recognize.
• Chapter 22: Our family will never be the same again.
• Chapter 23: I’ll never do anything really important.
• Chapter 24: I’ll never waste time on the superficial again!
• Chapter 25: I’ll never feel comfortable being photographed.
• Chapter 26: I’ll never be in a serious relationship again.
• Chapter 27: I’ll never be irresponsible.
• Chapter 28: I’m a celebrity! I’ll never really date online.
• Chapter 29: I’ll never get dissed by an unemployed street musician.
• Chapter 30: I’ll never fall for some lunatic’s scam.
• Chapter 31: I’ll never date anybody famous.
• Chapter 32: I’ll never be stronger than my father.
• Chapter 33: I’ll never be happier than I am in this beach house.
• Chapter 34: I’ll never go back to that big Brentwood life again.
• Chapter 35: I’ll never love any beach as much as Malibu.
• Chapter 36: I’ll never do Dancing with the Stars.
• Chapter 37: I’ll never be the favorite.
• Chapter 38: The paparazzi will never care about me.
• Chapter 39: I’ll never throw in the towel.
• Chapter 40: I’ll never feel as good as I did giving birth.
• Chapter 41: I’ll never find someone who loves me the same, fat or thin.
• Chapter 42: I’ll never meet a man who’s totally comfortable in a room full of women.
• Chapter 43: My ex-husband and my boyfriend will never get along.
• Acknowledgments
• Photographs